Chicago Labor Day Weekend Craft Beer Calendar

by vent wing

Friday, Aug. 30

Beer Hates Astronauts Tapping at Half AcreHalf Acre Beer Company Tap Room, 4257 N Lincoln Ave., Chicago (773) 248-4038Imagine a comic book. The kind with superheroes and punching and stuff. Now imagine that most of those superheroes are kind of total jerks. OK, now throw in felonious owls, spectral bovines, gorilla arms, lots of bears, unplanned pregnancy, and 19th century boxer John L. Sullivan. And be sure to include almost nothing about theology or space exploration.Now imagine — and this is key — being able to drink all that. And then imagine it’s called Beer Hates Astronauts, the beer version of God Hates Astronauts, which is the actual comic I completely failed to properly evoke above.This is just the latest step in creator Ryan Browne’s attempt to dominate the world by means of one of the most unsummarizable comics in existence. Having recently Kickstarted the deluxe hardcover edition of God Hates Astronauts with massive success, he has joined forces with Half Acre for a groundbreaking venture in distributing comics in hoppy liquid form.Beer Hates Astronauts will be set free from its containment unit here at the brewery on Friday. It is a 7% ABV India Pale Ale brewed with Vienna malt and Citra hops. It will be available in 22 oz. bombers for $8.99 + tax, (limit 4 per person). Or you can buy it by the glass in our Tap Room.And as if that all isn’t enough, there will be a special launch event in the Tap Room on Sunday, September 1st at 2pm, featuring Ryan Browne in person where you can probably talk him into signing bombers or body parts or explaining just what the deal with the cheeseburger-eating tigers is. (Probably not that last thing, actually.)

4:30 pm – 2:30 am ♦ Beer-lesque Tastings & TasselsUntitled, 111 W. Kinzie, Chicago (312) 880-1511What’s better than an evening full of craft beer from Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery? An evening full of craft beer… coupled with the lovely ladies from the Dolls of Doom burlesque troupe. The event will be emceed by the one and only Naughty Pierre, who recently hosted the third biggest burlesque festival in the United States! The ladies will feature a Deschutes Brewery beer in each of their burlesque and variety stage acts. This is sure to be a night of excitement, laughter, and unforgettable fun. Beers will include Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Black Butte Porter, Chainbreaker White IPA, Inversion IPA and Fresh Squeezed IPA . Special guest Black Butte XXV will also make an appearance. Best of all, it’s FREE!

11:00 am – 4:00 pm ♦ Crown & Welch’s Meat and Beer PartyWelch’s Meats, 11333 W. 95th St., St. John, IN (219) 365-8190Crown Brewing will be teaming up with our friends at Welch’s Stop and Shop for a cook out. They will be serving up a variety of sausages made with Crown Brewing beer and we will be pouring a variety of our tasty beers! The event will be held in the parking lot of Welch’s Stop and Shop.

1:00 – 4:00 pm ♦ Hops for Homeless Pets Craft Beer EventChicago Party Animals, 1133 W Fulton Market – First Floor, Chicago (773) 383-3647Join us for our very first dog-friendly craft beer tasting event! Set at the west loop’s “Party Animals”, this afternoon event will feature a three-hour sampling of breweries from around Chicago and beyond. The day will be filled with beer, music, raffles, and of course, dog-friendly fun! Participants will get a commemorative “Hops for Homeless Pets” sampling glass to remember the event. Help us make this event a success! Tickets are limited! This is a fundraiser for PAWS Chicago, which has tickets at this link, or through the Facebook event page. Human Ticket: $30; Dog Ticket: $10. 21+ only please!

4:00 – 8:00 pm ♦ Map Room Beer SchoolThe Map Room, 1949 N. Hoyne Chicago, IL 773.252.7636Greg Browne, brewmaster at Mickey Finn’s Brewery in Libertyville, guides us through the nuances of beer and its appreciation. Students study several beers and learn exactly what they’re tasting and the roles that the ingredients and the brewing process have in forming those aromas and flavors. Today’s topic: New Beers in Chicago. Limit, 45 people. Price, $25 per person. Cash only, maximum 2 tickets per purchase, and first come-first serve until all tickets have been sold. You must have a ticket to attend Beer School.

2nd Annual Windy City BBQ ClassicSoldier Field’s South Parking Lot, 1410 Museum Campus Dr, ChicagoThis Labor Day Weekend Chicago will host 30 BBQ Pit Masters in a REAL BBQ Competition! Teams from across the USA will fire up their smokers in a No Gas, No Electricity competition for the title of Grand Champion! Every guest can watch, learn and swap BBQ stories with the Pit Masters as they prepare their meats. Then, each guest becomes a People’s Choice Judge – sampling and judging BBQ from another set of local and national BBQ restaurants, who are solely competing for the People’s Choice prize. Pair all this BBQ with some of Chicago’s best Craft Beer, on the house – all-day! The 30 teams will compete for more than $14,000 in prizes in categories such as Best Ribs, Best Brisket, Best Pork Shoulder and Best Chicken.Each team will present their barbecue anonymously to the judges who will score the meat based on appearance, tenderness and taste. No garnish or sauce will be considered in the judging process. The overall Grand Champion is automatically qualified to compete in the invitation only Jack Daniel’s World Championship held in Tennessee later this year.Beers available from Lagunitas, Argus Brewery, Solemn Oath and Two Brothers. (An event at Soldier Fields with actual local beers? Unheard of!)Tickets start at $49, available at www.windycitybbqclassic.com. General admission includes all you can eat rib samples. VIP status ($79) includes all the ribs and beer you can enjoy. Premium Status is $99 and adds one hour early access to the event, premium seating, free Vintage Vine’s bloody Mary’s. A portion of the proceeds from the Windy City BBQ Classic will go to Operation BBQ Relief, a not for profit corporation founded for relief efforts in tornado stricken Joplin, Missouri.

7:30 – 11:30 pm ♦ Fringe Festival Benefit 2013Fischman’s Liquors & Tavern, 4780 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago (773) 545-0123Fischman’s is hosting several events related to the Chicago Fringe Festival happening all around its neighborhood, including this benefit.“Through the support of generous donors, we are putting together a night of drinking, dancing, and conversation. Grab a bite and talk to an artist or a Fringe staff member. Grab a stranger and shake your tail feather. Your $25 donation gets you three drink tickets and access to snacks, art, and an exciting silent auction!”For information and other events, check out Fischman’s blog post.

Monday, September 2

10:00 am – 5:00 pm ♦ Northbound Hop Yard Harvest PartyNorthbound Hop Yard, Aurora, ILCome out and enjoy the Hop Yard! We’ll be providing food and beers in exchange for your Hop Pickin’ Skills – donations to help the Hop Yard continue to thrive are also greatly appreciated :) Bring a chair – we’ll have tables for pickin’ Fresh wet hops will be available for sale.Check the Facebook link for directions or to contact.

3:00 – 6:00 pm ♦ Sheffield’s Labor Day Beer Garden, Country & BBQ BonanzaSheffield’s Beer and Wine Garden, 3258 N Sheffield Ave., Chicago (773) 281-4989Join us this Labor Day for a whole feast of festivities in our Beer Garden. What better way to celebrate the long weekend than craft beer, BBQ and LIVE country music all under the shade of our Cottonwood tree?Not only will we have featured Revolution Brewery specials, featured Jack Daniels specials and Wings and Rib Tip food specials, we’ve got LIVE music with singer/songwriter Chris Buehrle whos coming to Sheffield’s with a dynamic new act.

Check my Facebook page for events I may have missed, now easy to remember: Facebook.com/Beeronaut.